Improvement in signal-lights for railroad-cars



H. A. WRIGHT.

Railway Car Signal.

No. 97,016. I Patented Nov. 16, 1869.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

HARVEY A. WRIGHT, OF LOGANSPORT, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SIGNAL-LIGHTS FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 97,016, dated November 16, 1869.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY A. WRIGHT, of Logansport, in the county of Cass and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Signal-Lights for Railroad Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this specification.

This invention consists in applying signallights to a car (the rear one of a train, by preference) in such a manner that said lights shall derive motion from the axle, and indicate, by their velocity and direction of revolution, the speed of the train, as well as the direction in which it is traveling.

Figure 1 of the drawings is an under-side view of a car with attachment for carrying out my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion of the top of the same car.

I shall proceed to describe the invention in detail, in order that others skilled in the art to which it appertains may be enabled to fully understand and use the same.

a may represent the car-wheels, and b b the axles. 0 may represent a chain or belt, driven by the axle b, and transmitting motion to a shaft, d, which may be supported in bearings at the bottomof the car, and situated midway of and parallel with the axles. At the ends of and rotating with the shaft d are cogs or cog-wheels e e, which engage the teeth of the wheels ff, which are made fast upon the lower ends of vertical shafts, whose upper termini may be seen at g, Fig. 2. Each of said shafts carries, at its upper end, an arm, h, and each of said arms supports, at its swinging end, a red light, i. One of said vertical shafts also carries, at its upper end, an arm, h, which, while revolving simultaneously with the other arm, h, on the same shaft, occupies and maintains a position at right angles with said arm h. The arm It supports a lamp, j, which emits a white light.

The proportion between the parts of the driving mechanism should be determined with a View to give the arms h it such a slowness of revolution, even during the greatest speed of the car, as to obviate danger to the lamps from centrifugal force.

The operation of the invention is as follows: Supposing the car to be moving forward, as denoted by the red arrow, the wheels f f revolve in the direction shown by arrows, and the arms h h do likewise. The lightsthe only conspicuous objects at nightwill appear to approach and recede from each other in straight lines. In this case (running for ward) the white light will appear between the red lights before they have finished their outward journey, whereas when the cars make a backward or retrograde movement, the white light will appear between the red lights when they are aproaching each other.

The lights employed may differ from those specified, and the arrangement of some or all of the parts may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Flags or other signals may be substituted for the light; but the lights are, of course, most useful for night service.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The combination and arrangement of the horizontally-revolving angular arms h h, carrying different-colored lights or signals, and the single horizontally-revolving arm h, carrying a light or signal corresponding in color to one of those on the angular arms, the two arms being separated from each other, and serving to indicate, by their relative movements, the direction and speed of the train, substantially as described.

The above signed by me this 10th day of May, 1869.

HARVEY A. WVRIGHT.

Witnesses:

THURMAN O. ANNABAL, FRANK MILLARD. 

